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<h1><a href="https://archiveofourown.org/works/28149804">Midwinter Celebration (Noldorin Style)</a> by <a class='authorlink' href='https://archiveofourown.org/users/the_girl_that_time_forgot/pseuds/the_girl_that_time_forgot'>the_girl_that_time_forgot</a></h1>

<table class="full">

<tr><td><b>Category:</b></td><td>The Silmarillion and other histories of Middle-Earth - J. R. R. Tolkien</td></tr>

<tr><td><b>Genre:</b></td><td>Banter, Fluff and Humor, Gen, Multi, Quenya Names, Years of the Trees</td></tr>

<tr><td><b>Language:</b></td><td>English</td></tr>

<tr><td><b>Status:</b></td><td>Completed</td></tr>

<tr><td><b>Published:</b></td><td>2020-12-24</td></tr>

<tr><td><b>Updated:</b></td><td>2020-12-24</td></tr>

<tr><td><b>Packaged:</b></td><td>2021-05-10 16:53:40</td></tr>

<tr><td><b>Rating:</b></td><td>Teen And Up Audiences</td></tr>

<tr><td><b>Warnings:</b></td><td>No Archive Warnings Apply</td></tr>

<tr><td><b>Chapters:</b></td><td>1</td></tr>

<tr><td><b>Words:</b></td><td>3,065</td></tr>

<tr><td><b>Publisher:</b></td><td>archiveofourown.org</td></tr>

<tr><td><b>Story URL:</b></td><td>https://archiveofourown.org/works/28149804</td></tr>

<tr><td><b>Author URL:</b></td><td>https://archiveofourown.org/users/the_girl_that_time_forgot/pseuds/the_girl_that_time_forgot</td></tr>

<tr><td><b>Summary:</b></td><td><div class="userstuff">
              <p><em>It began years ago, when Maitimo and Finno were barely young adults but had to take care of their over-excited younger siblings on the night after the Midwinter Celebrations in the High King’s palace.</em><br/><br/>Or how to come up with a secret winter tradition, develop it into an over-the-top competition, withstand your siblings' chaotic energies, and hope for the best... :)</p>
            </div></td></tr>

<tr><td><b>Relationships:</b></td><td>Aredhel &amp; Celegorm | Turcafinwë, Aredhel &amp; Curufin | Curufinwë, Feanorians &amp; Nolofinweans, Fingon | Findekáno &amp; Maedhros | Maitimo, Fingon | Findekáno/Maedhros | Maitimo, idk it works for both so you decide :)</td></tr>

<tr><td><b>Comments:</b></td><td>10</td></tr>

<tr><td><b>Kudos:</b></td><td>25</td></tr>

<tr><td><b>Collections:</b></td><td>Tolkien Secret Santa 2020</td></tr>

</table>

<a name="section0001"><h2>Midwinter Celebration (Noldorin Style)</h2></a>
<div class="story"><div class="fff_chapter_notes fff_head_notes"><b>Author's Note:</b><ul class="associations">
      <li>For <a href="https://archiveofourown.org/users/ThatFeanorian/gifts">ThatFeanorian</a>.</li>



    </ul><blockquote class="userstuff">
      <p>This is my gift for the Tolkien Secret Santa 2020! </p><p>I caught a plot bunny and this... happened :) It probably sounded better in my head, but I did my best to make it work as a fic!</p><p>* * *</p><p>For a cheat-sheet of Quenya names and nicknames look <a href="https://idrilsbooklr.tumblr.com/post/634606094366507008/names-and-nicknames-in-the-house-of-finw%C3%AB">here</a>.</p>
    </blockquote></div><div class="userstuff module">
    
    <p class="western">- The Planning -</p><p class="western"> </p><p class="western">Every Elda loves the snow – it is an undisputed fact among the citizens of Tirion. As soon as the first snowflakes begin dancing in the air, both children and adults go out on the streets to feel the cold on their hands and noses, to laugh and dance, to marvel at the beauty and complexity of a single little crystal. Later, when the layer of snow gets thick and fluffy, adults compete in making the most life-like snow sculptures in their gardens, while the snow-fights among children intensify – the little ones with the flair of an architect sometimes even build veritable forts to withstand the onslaught from their “opponents” from the other side of the street. All in all, everyone is having a great time.</p><p class="western">
  <em> Some Eldar, however, take these winter activities way more seriously than the others… </em>
</p><p class="western">Maitimo smiles fondly, looking at his siblings and cousins gathered around the fireplace in the Hall of Play. On the outside it seems like they’re just relaxing after a long day of work, but Maitimo can already feel the familiar anticipation in the air. After all, there are only 12 days left till the Winter Solstice, which means that today they should conduct the draw to establish the teams for The Secret Snowball Battle.</p><p class="western">It is, as the name suggests, a somewhat secret tradition, known only to the Fëanorians and Ñolofinwëans. It began years ago, when Maitimo and Finno were barely young adults but had to take care of their over-excited younger siblings on the night after the Midwinter Celebrations in the High King’s palace. That year the kids were particularly hard to handle; in an act of despair and to, hopefully, get them tired out, Maitimo and Finno invented a <em>Legend of the Great Snowball Battle. </em> The gist of this “legend” was that when the world was young and the Eldar were still asleep by the waters of Cuiviénen, there was a fight between two Spirits – Makar and Meássë – who were brother and sister, and represented the forces of Light and Darkness; their final battle came to standstill and was followed by a peace treaty exactly on the day of Winter Solstice. After an engaging “retelling” of this “ancient battle”, the impromptu storytellers revealed the fact that their audience was already old enough to secretly re-enact the battle as the last part of the Midwinter Celebrations. The plan worked out perfectly: the kids were only too happy to spend all their energy on running around Finwë’s gardens and throwing snowballs at each other. After all the exercise, change of clothes, and a round of hot cocoa, everyone (including the two tired babysitters) fell asleep the moment their heads touched their pillows.</p><p class="western">Since then, the Secret Snowball Battle has been taking place on every Winter Solstice. Over the years it has become the most anticipated part of the celebrations, what with all the days of planning ahead, devising strategies and discussing the rules. It is one of these rare events that unites the younger generation of the two Houses completely; nobody has ever wanted to miss it, not even when they realized its original purpose, nor when all of them have gotten of age and have been expected to act accordingly to their royal status - every year they just make sure to keep the <em>secret</em> part of the whole endeavour actually secret.</p><p class="western">Hence today’s meeting in the house of Fëanáro has both an official and unofficial purpose. The official one is to bake and decorate gingerbread cookies; but since it always is a very messy affair, even though a joyful one, Nerdanel and Fëanáro were perfectly happy to leave the house for that day. They said they’d do some shopping in the city, crash on Mahtan’s couch, and come back next morning, when everything is supposed to be back in order. Such arrangement leaves plenty of time for the cousins to both tidy everything up and carry out the unofficial part of their meeting – the first stage of the Secret Battle tradition.</p><p class="western">When Ambarussa finally come back from the kitchen, announcing that the floor is now clean and thus the last traces of their baking session are gone forever, Maitimo glances at Finno. He receives a smile and a nod in response, and then they both stand up, go to the middle of the room and position themselves opposite one another. The movement catches the attention of their siblings, who stop talking and turn towards them.</p><p class="western">It always starts with assigning the team members.</p><p class="western">According to their long-standing tradition, there are two teams: one led by Maitimo and the other one by Finno. Maitimo holds a bowl with eight tightly rolled-up pieces of paper containing either the letter M or F; the battle participants come up one by one to pull out a piece indicating their assignment and then move to stand beside their respective team leaders. This part of the tradition proceeds in complete silence, up to the point when the teams are sorted out and Maitimo puts the empty bowl down on the table. Then the room erupts with comments and laughter.</p><p class="western">‘The Fate is merciful on us this year!’</p><p class="western">‘How so? Ambraussa, Írissë and Tyelko are on one team-’</p><p class="western">‘Exactly, Moryo! At least we won’t be dealing with the problem of traitors and on-site forming of an unsanctioned third team!’</p><p class="western">‘Hey! That’s not what I did with Tyelko last year!’</p><p class="western">‘-but that’s as good as playing against a four-headed Chaos Incarnate...’</p><p class="western">‘Hey! We’re not <em>that</em> bad!’</p><p class="western">‘Actually we are, Írissë, but don’t worry, we’re gonna use it to our team’s advantage.’</p><p class="western">‘Oi, redheads, watch it! Give some respect to your older team members!’</p><p class="western">‘Sorry, <em>aunt </em>Írissë!’</p><p class="western">‘I’ll give you AUNT you little monsters- Tyelko, let go of me!’</p><p class="western">‘Tyelko, keep holding her. Sister, calm down. Everybody, there’s no point in questioning the results of the draw - we're sticking with what we've got.'</p><p class="western">‘It’s easy for you to say, Finno, when you have both Turno to build you an impenetrable fort and Curvo to come up with an astonishing and superior winning strategy!’</p><p class="western">‘Oooh, I’m flattered when my beautiful and accomplished lady cousin praises me! I promise I won’t let you down this time either.’</p><p class="western">‘Could you though, Curvo? Just this once? For me?’</p><p class="western">Írissë is trapped in Tyelko’s hug, trying to make puppy eyes at Curvo and give Ambarussa a wrathful glare at the same time, which only means that she is failing spectacularly at both, making weird faces and provoking an uncontrollable laughter in everybody who’s looking at her.</p><p class="western">‘All right, all right! We need to move on to the next points on our agenda,’ Finno manages to utter a full sentence after a few less successful attempts. Maitimo admires him for it because he himself is still busy pretending he isn’t quietly wheezing into his fist.</p><p class="western">Finno continues his attempts to rein the chaos in. ‘Now, the team leaders should nominate- Írissë, please, could you just sit back and let me- thank you- Curvo, if you could stop encouraging her I’d be most obliged- where are Ambarussa?- ah, fine, I didn’t see you in that nook- yes, you can stay there, actually it’s even better that way- can we please continue? We need one representative from each team to scout for a suitable battle area and later arrange the transportation of the necessary equipment to the site.’</p><p class="western">The grounds for the battle are changed every year, to keep the secrecy of the tradition. The chosen place should be somewhat concealed from the main roads and settlements in the area, because none of them has mastered any kind of invisibility spell yet; they’re lucky enough that Kano is able to draw a sound-muting barrier around the chosen spot.</p><p class="western">‘I’m volunteering, if Finno and the others don’t mind,’ Turukáno says with enthusiasm and he receives nods from everybody on his team – after all, he’s going to be their Chief Architect, so it’s only beneficial for them to let him choose and see the battlefield with his own eyes before the main event.</p><p class="western">Maitimo chooses Tyelko – the best Elda on his team to find a suitable spot that would also be well-hidden from any prying eyes. Later Tyelko will be able to draw an accurate map of the terrain for their team to discuss the fortifications and strategy.</p><p class="western">‘I’m glad we've got that settled quickly,’ Finno says, ‘and as usual, the after-party will be organized by me and Nelyo.’</p><p class="western">The after-party is the latest addition to the Secret Battle tradition. It isn’t a party <em>per se</em>, more like an after-battle gathering to change out of the wet clothes, eat and drink something hot, sit around the fire and discuss the day’s events, then eventually fall asleep in one big pile of pillows, blankets, and exhausted Noldorin princes. It takes place in Mahtan’s summer residence on the outskirts of the city; since he never uses it in winter, it’s a safe place for his grandkids and their cousins to invite themselves in – clean the place and secretly bring the food, blankets and the change of clothes on the day before the Winter Solstice, then spend the Midwinter night in, tidy up in the next morning and promptly disappear like spectres in the fog, as if nothing ever happened there.</p><p class="western">To be accurate, these spectres are usually slightly hungover – due to the nightly consumption of mulled wine – and complaining about headaches, joints pains, cold weather, long walk back to the city, general lack of energy, and everything else that is wrong with world. <em>And yet they are eager to do it all over again next year</em>, Maitimo ponders and smiles to himself – how can he not love these elven disasters?</p><p class="western">After establishing the persons responsible for handling this year’s logistic issues, there is only one more matter to attend to – discussing the Rules.</p><p class="western">Finno looks around the room until his eyes settle on the Keeper of the Rules. ‘Kano, you’ve got the scroll, right? Let’s revise the lists of acceptable and forbidden battle items and see if we need to amend any of them.’</p><p class="western">Kano stands up and poses himself in exactly the same way as he does for every poetry recitation. <em>At this point he probably doesn’t even notice it,</em> Maitimo thinks as he watches his brother launching into a dramatic reading:</p><p class="western">‘Items acceptable on the battlefield: additional pairs of gloves, shovels and snow-brick templates (only in the first stage of fort building), stationary long-range wooden catapults, wooden sleds. A remark from last year: “combining the last two items is forbidden, which word in "stationary catapults” don’t you understand, Ambarussa”.’</p><p class="western">The audience snickers and snorts while the Twins roll their eyes in unison. Kano continues reading aloud.</p><p class="western">‘Forbidden items: “snowball slingshots”, “snowball crossbows”, ordinary slingshots and crossbows, any other conventional or unconventional weapons, flamethrowers, matches, any other snow-melting devices, sword-long icicles-’</p><p class="western">‘Oh, that was fun, remember that epic icicle fight?’ Tyelko’s theatrical whisper cuts in.</p><p class="western">‘Of course! Curvo totally owned Turno’s ass-’ Írissë’s response is also loud enough for everyone to hear, triggering smirks here and there, and blushing on her brother's face.</p><p class="western">‘Children, please, let us finish this,’ Finno chides the pair even though one corner of his mouth goes infinitesimally up. Maitimo can see that, and with one pointed look he makes sure Finno knows that <em>he knows. </em>In truth, both of them have secretly enjoyed that absurd icicle fight between their younger brothers, even though they can’t ever admit that aloud. For pedagogical reasons.</p><p class="western">Finno gestures for Kano to continue reading.</p><p class="western">‘Right, more forbidden items: projectiles other than snowballs, ropes, steel-reinforced gloves-’</p><p class="western">‘Who did the gloves? And when?' </p><p class="western">‘Also Curvo, to punch through the fort wall four years ago, if I’m not mistaken.’</p><p class="western">‘Three.’</p><p class="western">‘Ah yes, you’re right, Curvo, that was the same year when we tried the pine cones scheme-’</p><p class="western">‘ÍRISSË!’</p><p class="western">‘Sorry, Finno, we’ll be quiet now.’</p><p class="western">Kano takes a deep breath. ‘ANYWAY, the rest of the forbidden items include: ladles from the kitchen, advanced climbing equipment-’</p><p class="western">‘Moryo, remember that time you borrowed my climbing gear and tried to sneak into the enemy territory by climbing that pine tree-</p><p class="western">‘Everybody remembers that, Írissë-’</p><p class="western">‘-then you jumped from one tree to another only to get tangled in all the ropes in the end-’</p><p class="western">‘-yes, I’ve got the scars till today, and everybody’s been there, so I don’t see the point-’</p><p class="western">‘Oh, I just love telling this story over and over again-’</p><p class="western">‘GLITTER,’ Kano exclaims desperately, ‘GLITTER IS THE LAST FORBIDDEN ITEM ON THE LIST!’</p><p class="western">Now<em> that </em>finally brings the whole room into silence. Nobody wants to talk about the Great Glitter Accident. The mental scars are still too recent.</p><p class="western">Finno clears his throat and advances bravely. ‘Right, does anybody have any more comments on the legitimacy of the items on both lists?’</p><p class="western">Írissë is the first to shake the glitter nightmare off and return to the matters at hand. ‘Yes, I have a proposition to take the ladles off the forbidden list,’ she says with an innocent smile.</p><p class="western">Finno doesn’t fall for it. ‘Only when you prove to me that you can throw <em>just</em> the snow with it, and not the snow with the ladle itself.’</p><p class="western">Írissë pouts at him, but doesn’t actually argue with his judgement.</p><p class="western">Finno sighs.</p><p class="western">Maitimo takes pity on his best friend and decides to step in. ‘Alright folks, let’s just do a simple and fun snowball battle with “capture the flag” element. There’s no need for any extra tricks and devices. Let it be like a game of chess – the best strategy wins!’</p><p class="western">Everybody nods in agreement.</p><p class="western">Everybody is also perfectly aware that a new forbidden item will be added to the list this year, anyway. After all, that too is part of the tradition.</p><p class="western">With this last point on the agenda settled, Maitimo calls the meeting adjourned.</p><p class="western">* * *</p><p class="western">‘I wonder what it will be this time,’ Finno whines into Maitimo’s shoulder. Their siblings have left the room and the two of them are sprawled on one of the sofas near the fireplace.</p><p class="western">Maitimo sighs and starts playing with the strands of hair that came loose from Finno’s braids. ‘Knowing our siblings’ twisted minds, we won’t even be able to guess <em>the direction</em> in which their thoughts will go this time…’</p><p class="western">Finno looks up at him with a mischievous gleam in his eyes. ‘Are you trying to say that <em>your</em> mind is totally pure and innocent?’</p><p class="western">Maitimo snorts, then turns to look at Finno with the most dangerous smile from his private arsenal.</p><p class="western">‘Well… are you <em>sure</em> you’d like to find that out?’</p><p class="western">* * *</p><p class="western"> </p><p class="western">- The Aftermath -</p><p class="western"> </p><p class="western">‘A hang-glider, Curvo? Really? A freaking HANG-GLIDER???’</p><p class="western">‘I don’t understand your indignation, Finno - IT WORKED, I snatched their flag!’</p><p class="western">‘Yes, and then you almost CRASHED into that tree!’</p><p class="western">‘...almost being the keyword here…’</p><p class="western">‘Don’t interrupt me! Also – why didn’t you even MENTION bringing this thing here to YOUR OWN TEAM LEADER, HUH?’</p><p class="western">‘Isn’t it obvious? Because I knew you wouldn’t let me use it!’</p><p class="western">‘Look, if you’re trying to set up a record of being the reason for the MAJORITY of the forbidden items to appear on that list, don’t bother – you’ve been winning this competition basically since the beginning!’</p><p class="western">Finno and Curvo have been going back and forth like this ever since the end of the battle, and everybody else has been wondering where do they get the energy to do so. The two of them are indeed famous in Tirion for their relentlessness in discussions, but it doesn't change the fact that it's a cold winter night and they've just spent an hour of running in a knee-deep snow throwing snowballs, after a long and tiring day of official festivities in King Finwë's palace. Even the Four Agents of Chaos in Maitimo's team are now subdued - Írissë is shamelessly dozing off in Tyelko's arms, Pityo yawns every minute, and Telvo seems to be moving only by the momentum. Kano and Turukáno are not doing much better.</p><p class="western">Eventually, Curvo gives in. ‘Nelyoooo, brother mine, could you perhaps say something, anything really, in my defense, so Finno would finally get off my back?’</p><p class="western">‘You kind of deserve it, you know,’ Maitimo shouts back brightly, razing the last remains of his snow fort to the ground. For the last half hour they’ve been busy with covering up their tracks on the battlefield and putting the equipment back on the sleds. They’re almost done, and in a few minutes they’ll be ready to head for Mahtan’s residence; Maitimo hopes that once there, changing into dry clothes and filling his stomach with hot soup will be enough for Finno to lift his mood up and let Curvo off the hook. For now, he can only try to neutralize his friend’s oldest child syndrome with words.</p><p class="western">‘It’s okay, Finno. Nobody got hurt in the end, and apart from that one incident we actually had a nice, old-fashioned snowball fight this year! I’m proud of all of you, guys!’</p><p class="western">The <em>guys</em> respond with somewhat weak, but genuine cheers and applause; only Finno is still clearly offended. Maitimo sighs, comes up to him and kisses his forehead. ‘It’s really fine,’ he whispers into Finno’s ear, ‘Curvo scared us for a second, but he’s fine, we all are. And honestly, did you really expect him to not even try anything stupid?’</p><p class="western">Finno takes a few calming breaths and finally exchanges his previous scowl for a pout. ‘But we hadn't had the time to enact <em>our </em>evil plan before Curvo took the flag!’</p><p class="western">This unexpected confession makes Maitimo burst out laughing. <em>So that’s what this is all about.</em></p><p class="western">‘Next year,’ he breathes into Finno’s hair, ‘we’ll get our revenge. I promise.’</p><p class="western">Finno’s smile brings back the balance to the world.</p><p class="western">A few minutes later, Maitimo takes one last look at the battle area, and shouts to his siblings and cousins: ‘Everybody, take your sleds and let’s go!’</p><p class="western">Then, because he’s in a good mood, he starts to hum. The others quickly pick up the tune and thus on a Midwinter night, in the woods near Tirion, a keen ear can hear faint sounds of a harmonious singing:</p><p class="western">‘Hearth and fire be ours tonight, and all the dark outside;</p><p class="western">fair the night and kind on you wherever you may bide.</p><p class="western">Wine and song be ours tonight, and all the cold outside;</p><p class="western">peace and warmth be yours tonight wherever you may bide...’</p><p> </p><p> </p>
  </div><div class="fff_chapter_notes fff_foot_notes"><b>Author's Note:</b><blockquote class="userstuff"><p>Alternative summary for this fic:</p><p>Finno: Let me see what you have here<br/>Curvo: A hang-glider<br/>Finno: NO</p><p>* * *</p><p>- Memes aside, the last four verses were shamelessly borrowed from from the folk song <em>Hearth and Fire</em> (I listened to the version sung by Gordon Bok).</p><p>- Makar and Meássë are also borrowed, from <em>The Book of Lost Tales</em> - in the first versions of Tolkien's Legendarium they are chaotic neutral Valar, and actually a brother and a sister :)</p><p>- I imagine the actual battle as something like a jugger match in half-a-meter-deep snow, with <em>capture the flag</em> instead of scoring goals with the skull, and with throwing snowballs instead of using the foam-padded weapons. Over-complicated? Maybe, but that's just how my brain works :D</p><p>- Thank you for reading! I hope you enjoyed the Chaos ^^</p><p>- All comments are appreciated!</p></blockquote></div></div>
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